Main menu

Monthly Archives: August 2012

Post navigation

I cry. A lot. Ask Whitney. I’m an emotional person. The first step is admitting you have a problem right? 🙂

That said…I cried today. But wasn’t because I was sad. I was happy. This post isn’t about our adoption story. I hope you read it anyway because this story changed my day today.

Circa 1999 in Marietta, Ohio. 9 years before Whitney and I became a couple we attended Marietta College together. Whitney’s roommate was a guy named Matt Parker. Freshman year, Matt meets Marina, a beautiful redhead, also a member of the class of 2003. Thirteen years after Matt & Marina met, they are meeting their son Shambu in Ethiopia for the first time. Below is a link to their latest blog post. I hope your heart just BURSTS with happiness for this family. I cannot even imagine the overwhelming joy that the Parker’s are feeling at this very moment but we hope to one day. Their story gives us hope. I hope that you keep our dear friends in your prayers as they prepare to bring Shambu Parker HOME! We love you Matt, Marina and Shambu!

Last night we experienced something I never thought would happen. We were on our way to dinner when our social worker called us out of the blue. My heart lept out of my chest and I answered. A baby boy was just born in OUR town. And she asked if we were interested. We said “YES!” What happened next was a heartbreak I have never felt. The birthmother had already figured out something else. We aren’t sure of the details but all this literally happened in 10 minutes while we were in the car. It was the craziest roller coaster we had ever been on. After the shock of this quick craziness wore off, we realized that there is a couple out there, just like us, who’s dreams came true last night.

It’s amazing how much day dreaming you can do in 10 minutes. That 10 minutes of thinking we might have a son was such a thrilling experience. I’m not sure I was breathing during those moments. When I finally broke down last night about it, I went straight to my bible and this verse was STARING me in the face:

But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. (Isaiah 40:31 KJV)

God knew EXACTLY what I needed to hear at that exact moment I was so low. I had never been so grateful to go to sleep last night so we could wake up to a new day and start over. And that’s exactly what we are doing.

Sorry it has been so long since our last post. It’s that Red Light, Green Light affect. We are in a standstill right now. What’s holding us up, well unfortunately, it’s money. We are still in fundraising mode but we have some solutions! We are so grateful for all those who have donated, bought items from our store and supported us in many other ways. We are so humbled by the generosity of family, friends and even complete strangers who want to help us grow our family. As of right now, we are 55% to our first monetary goal with our international agency. There are so many financial resources out there for us to utilize but many of them require you to be at a certain point in the adoption process that we have not reached yet.

So, what are we doing you ask? Well first of all, I got a job!! Finally, in this small little town, there is something I can do! I’m really liking it so far and it is literally 1 block from Whitney’s work. I will still be making all the items in our store, continuing with Two Designs and selling Mary Kay, but now we can dedicate a whole new separate financial income directly into our adoption account.

The thing we try to realize is that every penny into our adoption account is a penny closer to bringing our child home. With that thought, we are still fundraising on a small level. So our second exciting fundraising effort is a garage sale that we are holding this Saturday. Call me crazy, but I LOVE garage sales!

Finally, our latest and greatest effort comes from the help of a dear friend of mine. I met my friend Misty in 6th grade and we’ve been friends ever since (no matter how far apart we live). Misty, can you believe this picture? We are babies in this picture. This is what cool people from Marietta High School looked like in 1998! 🙂

)

She is an awesome Scentsy Director and she offered to hold a fundraising party for us. I looooove Scentsy so I am very excited about it. And to make it even more exciting, Scentsy has recently come out with two new product lines (fondue and handbags). She has created parties for all three products. As of right now, we are going to keep the parties open for the whole month of August!

Here are the links to all three and once you start shopping it will ask you if you want to join a party. Just click Tara’s Fundraiser and you are on your way!

I always hate talking about money. Sadly, adoption is so expensive and there is no way around it. Luckily, we have met so many people who have succesfully adopted and lived to tell the story:) We really appreciate all the people who have shared with us and hope to one day pay it forward and be able to help others who want to give a child a home and life they would never had otherwise.